As is well known, the cooling system for most internal combustion engines includes a radiator, water pump and the necessary conduits to carry the cooling fluid to and from the engine itself. Since it is desirable to keep the amount of fluid at a minimum the radiator has been specifically designed to capture the flow of air and utilize it to its maximum to cool the fluid passing therethrough. Because of the desire for maximum cooling effect of the flowing air, the radiator core contains a plurality of small conduits to carry the cooling fluid which have air channels thereby. To increase the efficiency of cooling, the conduits within the radiator which carry the fluid are extremely thin walled and thus subject to leakage.
The initial and replacement cost of a radiator can be substantial and therefore an industry has been built upon the necessity and desirability of repairing radiator cores. Traditionally, for reasons of economy, the repair of a radiator has been accomplished by utilizing a high intensity heat source to remove all solder upon the radiator whether placed there during construction or previous repair. There has been no attempt made to collect or reuse the solder removed since it was allowed to fall upon the floor and thus it was most economical to simply sweep up the particles and deposit them in a suitable trash receptable along with the other debris. With the ever increasing cost of basic materials as well as the concern over total shortage of materials it has become imperative that the solder removed be reclaimed and reused.
It is acknowledged that the standard method of producing a strand of solder is to utilize a billet of the prescribed combination of components and then extrude the billet into a continuous strand which is wrapped upon spools of suitable size. These known prior art devices are for obvious reasons such as economy and efficiency, extremely large, utilize a long stroke and usually operate upon a horizontal bed. Since the known devices operate on a horizontal bed it is possible to place the ram and its operating mechanism upon a truck of some nature such that the ram can be completely extracted from the die chamber to accommodate the insertion of another billet. Whereas this method is economical and feasible when the extruder is in continuous or almost continuous operation the utilization of an apparatus of this type for the recovery within a small radiator repair shop is impractical both from the expense and from the unwarranted use of space standpoint.
Thus, as can be readily seen it is desirable to have a small extrusion mechanism which is capable of providing the pressures necessary to extrude the solder into a continuous strand for use in a small radiator repair shop. Such a mechanism must be one which does not require sophisticated equipment, sophisticated handling, and/or a great deal of space and auxiliary equipment.
With this in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of fabricating a continuous solder strand including the steps of removing the solder from the apparatus to which it was previously secured, collecting the particles of solder, melting the solder and forming it into a billet of a predetermined dimension, trimming the billet, thereby removing any and all foreign particles, extruding the billet into a continuous strand and coiling the billet on a suitable spool.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a small, economical and easily used extruding mechanism comprising a die chamber to receive the billet and a ram which is pivotally mounted to permit the ram to be pivoted through an arc away from the mouth of the die chamber to allow the insertion of another billet to be extruded.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a source of fluid under pressure to simultaneously drive an extrusion ram for forming a continuous strand of solder and a trimming knife which removes the end of the next billet to be extruded thereby removing all impurities.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a powered coiling mechanism which is operated by fluid under pressure provided by a common source such that the billet can be trimmed, the solder extruded and the extruded solder coiled upon a suitable spool simultaneously thereby greatly decreasing the amount of space, and/or storage necessary for the operation.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a novel extrusion mechanism wherein the ram is pivotally mounted in a vertical orientation. The pivot is located at the upper end and said ram is mounted directly above the die chamber which is to receive the billet to be extruded. The extruding ram includes a novel mounting including a trunnion mounted in elongated bearings such that vertical movement of the ram results upon the extrusion stroke. The uppermost portion of the extruding ram includes a flattened surface which reacts against an end plate of the encompassing framework whereby all of the pressure is transferred directly to the end plate without undue stress and resultant damage to the trunnions themselves.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a die which comprises a pair of truncated cones in a top to top relationship whereby the solder when extruded will be of the desired size and will have a smooth, shiny and desirable exterior surface.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an extruding mechanism wherein the extruding ram has a configured end such that the solder billet when extruded forms a sealing ring around the rim preventing further upward flow of the solder thereby lessening the down time as well as the frequency at which the device must be cleaned.